Three senior leaders of the All Progressives Congress in Zamfara State have dragged the party’s state chairman before the High Court in Gusau, insisting that their suspension was illegal, arbitrary and a gross abuse of due process.
In a suit filed on 14 November 2025, the aggrieved officials — Hon. Babangida Aliyu Shinkafi, Kabiru Ibrahim and Ibrahim DD Kurya — asked the court to declare them bona fide members of the APC, asserting that no organ of the party had the authority to expel or suspend them without fair hearing.
According to a statement yesterday by the State Chairman of Wamban Shinkafi Democratic Front, Yushau Abdullahi Mada, they said: “An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, servants, assigns or any other person from taking further steps to suspend, expel, intimidate, harass, terminate the membership or discriminate against them.
“An order of court directing maintenance of status quo and suspension of all actions to do with suspension, expulsion, intimidation, harassment, termination of membership or discrimination against them, the subject matter of this action, pending the determination of the substantive suit before the court.”
Their suit lists the APC, the Zamfara State Chairman, Alhaji Tukur Danfulani Maikatako, and the Shinkafi Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Bama Shinkafi, as defendants.
The trio, who were elected during the 2022 congresses, said their suspension stemmed from their attendance at the Wamban Shinkafi Democratic Front stakeholders’ meeting on 11 November in Gusau. They denied engaging in any anti-party activity, insisting instead that they belong to the political camp of Dr Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi.
They alleged that Bama Shinkafi suspended them orally, without justification and without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves. All attempts to halt the suspension, they said, failed — prompting their decision to seek judicial intervention.
Through their counsel, Bello Idris Galadi and Associates, they prayed the court to nullify the suspension and issue a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further harassment, intimidation or attempts to terminate their membership.
The crisis in Zamfara APC has deepened in recent years, following its defeats in the 2019 and 2023 governorship elections — setbacks widely linked to internal divisions, imposition of candidates and marginalisation of key leaders.
Earlier this month, APC stakeholders met at the Talata Mafara residence of former governor and Zamfara West senator, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, resolving to back President Bola Tinubu as the party’s consensus candidate for the 2027 presidential election and vowing to end imposition in the state.
In a similar move, the Wamban Shinkafi Democratic Front also convened a stakeholders’ meeting on 11 November, where it adopted Tinubu and reaffirmed Yari as the state’s political leader. The group accused the state chairman of orchestrating suspensions against members loyal to Dr Shinkafi, allegedly acting on instructions from the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
The group described the suspensions as punitive, divisive and detrimental to ongoing reconciliation efforts within the party.
“As efforts are being made to rebuild the party, we were shocked that loyal members were suspended arbitrarily,” it said.
They urged all factions to maintain peace, respect the court process and work towards a united, stronger APC in Zamfara State.
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